Chapter 76: A Clockwork Shitennou

[Scene: The Midori kitchen. Chief Midori is filling Kunzite in on all of the details of what has happened since he left. In the beginning he was nervous, concerned that when Kunzite learned that Zoisite had been captured by the Blackmoons, he would blast the house to splinters in his rage.]

[Instead, Kunzite is listening intently. Only a slight sneer and a bit of fire in his eyes to indicate he is anything but perfectly calm. His demeanor doesn't even change when he sees the picture of Zoi, but he does look away. ]

[But when he finishes telling Kunzite everything he knows, Kunzite is silent for several seconds.]

Kunzite: Is that everything?

Chief Midori: Yes.

Kunzite: You stupid fool. I trusted you to keep him safe.

Chief Midori: I did what I could.

Kunzite: You did what you could to keep me away from him.

Chief Midori: Don't blame this on me!. Leaving Hen Tie was your idea, not mine.

Kunzite: I left because my being here put him in danger. You wouldn't let me take him from here, and he wouldn't leave without your blessing. You swore to me you would protect him, but you just wanted him dead before you'd let him be with me. Now it seems you've gotten your wish.

Chief Midori: Zoi isn't dead.

Kunzite: [icy] I can't sense him. Which means he's either dead, or being held at Blackmoon Cove.

Chief Midori: Then he is at Blackmoon Cove. He was alive when they took that picture. Think about it. If they meant to terrorize me, they would have sent me the most gruesome picture at their disposal.

Kunzite: I hope you're wrong. Because if he's not dead, he's being brutally tortured.

Chief Midori: You don't suppose Demande Blackmoon….

[Kunzite stares at him, daring him to finish the sentence. Chief Midori looks away.]

Kunzite: God, I hope so.

[Chief Midori does a double take]

Kunzite: Right now I'm praying that Demande Blackmoon is keeping him locked up in his chambers as his personal slave. You know why? Anything else that might be happening to Zoisite right now is too horrible for me to even contemplate.

[By now Kunzite is practically snarling]

Kunzite: There are only a few hundred Blackmoons left in the world. All of them have fertility problems. A Blackmoon female is lucky if she can carry more than a couple of pregnancies to term over the course of a lifetime! In a single night your son singlehandedly wiped out almost 2% of their population! Including their monarch! That's not the sort of thing they will ever get over! Not in this lifetime! and not in generations to follow! And now they have him! They're keeping him at Blackmoon Cove! They've taken him to a place where I can't help him! I would have done ANYTHING to prevent this from happening! Now I can do NOTHING! All because you thought it was more important to keep him from me instead of them!

Chief Midori: [uncowed] And what was I supposed to think? When he came here he was still an innocent little boy who loved flowers. After he met you he started ditching school, having sex with demons, and killing people. As a father what was I supposed to do?

[Kunzite looks away and trembles]

Chief Midori: Tell me how to get him back.

Kunzite: I can't help you.

Chief Midori: Try!

Kunzite: [through gritted teeth] I can't! It's a physical impossibility. Helping you rescue Zoisite would mean interfering with the Blackmoons, and I'm not allowed to interfere the Blackmoons!

Chief Midori: [narrows his eyes] Your brother didn't have a problem interfering with the Blackmoons.

[Kunzite gives him a startled look]

Kunzite: What do you mean?

Chief Midori: I guess I forgot to mention that the whole reason they decided Zoi had to die was because your brother intervened when Zoi got into a fight with Esmeraude Blackmoon in Biology class.

[Kunzite's look turns dubious.]

Chief Midori: I was talking with Justice Blackmoon when Esmeraude ran in here screaming that she got into a fight with Zoi and your brother jumped in to protect him. He blocked Esmeraude's attacks and even took a knife through his hand protecting him.

Kunzite: Oh?

Chief MidorI: That's how they knew for certain that you and Zoi still had feelings for each other, but what cinched it for her was that he said he did it because Zoi was "family." That's when Justice Blackmoon seized control of my mind and made me tell them everything I knew about you.

[For a moment Kunzite is at a loss for words.]

Kunzite: Which brother?

Chief Midori: [figures that should be obvious from the reference to biology class] Neffy.

Kunzite: That's impossible.

Chief Midori: Are you saying I'm lying?

Kunzite: I'm saying someone is lying. Do you think I would have left Hen Tie if it was that easy to protect your son?

Chief Midori: Why would anyone lie about this?

Kunzite: Nephrite couldn't interfere in any such manner, even if he wanted to. It's not a matter of willpower, Mother cursed us so we can't act against the Blackmoons. What you just described–shielding Zoisite from attack– would require a superhuman amount of effort. Even if Nephrite were capable of fighting against the curse Mother placed upon us, he certainly wouldn't do so for Zoisite's sake.

Chief Midori: Why not?

Kunzite: Because Nephrite hates your son.

Chief Midori: [half-smiles a harsh smile] Maybe that's just what he wants people to think. Maybe he secretly loves my son even more than you do.

Kunzite: No. He doesn't.

Chief Midori: How can you possibly know that?

Kunzite: Nephrite has tried to kill Zoisite himself.

Chief Midori: WHAT!

Kunzite: Don't worry, I made him curse himself in such a way that it can never happen again.

[Chief Midori is staring at Kunzite in open horror]

Kunzite: Trust me, I was careful to phrase the curse in such a way that he can't wriggle out of it.

Chief Midori: [weak] Why didn't Zoi tell me about this?

Kunzite: Zoisite never knew about it. As far as anyone knows he merely passed out in Biology class during a blood-typing lab. He never knew Nephrite was draining away his life-force so that he was teetering on the brink of death.

[Chief Midori opens up his mouth to say something but the doorbell rings. Kunzite stares toward the front door.]

Kunzite: Blackmoons.

[Chief Midori and Kunzite both rise and go to the front door. Chief Midori peeks out to see Saffir and Esmeraude Blackmoon. Saffir is wearing a black mandarin-collared suit with steel accents, and Esmeraude is wearing a tiny black minidress. black boots, and a black veiled cap and both are looking very somber.]

Chief Midori: What should I do?

Kunzite: You should do the obvious. They have Zoisite. You need to open the door, welcome them into your home, and listen to whatever they have to say.